Water-cooled continuous casting mould

ABSTRACT

The invention starts from a water-cooled continuous casting mould with a water-cooled carrying frame and provides that the mould is stationarily surrounded by a hollow ring having a boxtype profile which is connectable with the carrying frame by means of a plurality of rapid connections for the formation of a common carrying frame-mould cooling system, the rapid connections being formed by hollow pins engaging with bushings of the carrying frame, and sealing rings being provided in annular recesses of the bushings. This plug-in connection for the common cooling water system makes it possible to exchange the casting mould within a few minutes.

United States Patent [7 2] Inventor Rudolf Schoffmann Linz, Austria [21] Appl, No. 39,458

[22] Filed May 21, 1970 [45] Patented Oct. 5, 1971 [73] Assignee Vereinigte Osterreichische Eisenund Stahlwerke Aktieugesellschaft Linz, Austria [32] Priority May 30, 1969 [3 3] Austria [54] WATER-COOLED CONTINUOUS CASTING MOULD 2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 164/283, 164/348, 287/126 [51] Int. Cl 822d 11/12 [50] Field of Search 164/283, 348; 249/79; 287/126 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 561,441 6/1896 Schmidt 287/126 UX 1,508,026 9/1924 Noble 287/ l26 X 3,516,479 6/1970 Kurth et al 164/283 X Primary Examiner-Robert D. Baldwin Attorney-Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue and Raymond ABSTRACT: The invention starts from a water-cooled continuous casting mould with a water-cooled carrying frame and provides that the mould is stationarily surrounded by a hollow ring having a box-type profile which is connectable with the carrying frame by means of a plurality of rapid connections for the fonnation of a common carrying frame-mould cooling system, the rapid connections being formed by hollow pins engaging with bushings of the carrying frame, and sealing rings being provided in annular recesses of the bushings. This plugin connection for the common cooling water system makes it possible to exchange the casting mould within a few minutes.

WATER-COOLED CONTINUOUS CASTING MOULD The invention relates to a water-cooled continuous casting mould with a water-cooled carrying frame.

In continuous casting it is attempted to construct the individual parts of the plant in a manner to permit their rapid exchange so that any dead periods will remain as short as possible and detrimental effects upon the metallurgical plants are avoided. The time available for repairs or for exchanging parts is particularly short in continuous casting plants which are arranged in succession to basic oxygen converters because such converters produce a finished melt within a period of 25 to 40 minutes. For the rolling mill it has to be possible to alter the width of the cast bars as often as desired. Therefore it is necessary to exchange the casting mould frequently, unless expensive and complicated adjusting means for displacing the narrow sides of the mould are employed.

The exchange of water-cooled continuous casting moulds is highly time consuming which in actual practice is uneconomical because the customary casting moulds comprise four parts and thus are provided with four water supply ducts and four drains, i.e. with eight connections to the cooling water system. These connections are, as a rule, formed by hoses and flanges so that the mould may oscillate during casting. Obviously, it is impossible to loosen or tighten the screw connections at the numerous flanges in a short time, also because it is difficult to get at the mould site which is rather crowded in by other machinery. Furthennore such hose connections are subjected to great stresses and there is the constant danger of their being destroyed. It has therefore been proposed to provide for a manifold connection between the mould and the cooling water system; this type of connection preconditions that the sealing surfaces be absolutely plane, similarly as is the case with the cylinder head of a motor vehicle engine. However, it is difficult to realize such a connection because of the great dimensions of a casting mould, and furthermore it has been shown that it is too delicate for the rough handling in steel works particularly when the mould has to be exchanged frequently. Also, a manifold connection cannot be considered a rapid connection because here, too, numerous screws have to be loosened.

Further, it is known to design the supply duct to the cooling water system of the mould as a releasable plug-in connection. While this construction avoids screw connections between the cooling water conduits which are to be separated or connected, respectively, when the mould is exchanged, there are, however, screw connections between the part arranged at the outer jacket of the mould and the carrying frame. Thus, when the mould is exchanged, both the screw connections and the plug-in connections have to be loosened and reestablished.

The invention is aimed at creating a water-cooled continuous casting mould which is releasably connected with a watercooled carrying frame and may be exchanged for another mould within a short time, e.g. within a few minutes.

The continuous casting mould according to the invention is characterized in that the mould is stationarily surrounded by a hollow ring having a box-type profile, which is connectable with the carrying frame by means of a plurality of rapid connections for the formation of a common carrying frame-mould cooling system, the rapid connections being formed by hollow pins engaging with bushings of the carrying frame, and sealing means being provided in annular recesses of the bushings. In this manner rapid connections that may easily be released at all connection areas are created between the cooling water system and the mould. Owing to the fact that, apart from the mould, also the hollow ring arranged at the outer jacket of the mould and the carrying frame forming a support for this hollow ring are water-cooled it is avoided that these parts are warped as a result of thermal stresses which would lead to an inaccurate alignment of the mould in relation to the cast bar and thus cause the mould to laterally press against the shell of the bar. As a result of such lateral forces acting upon the bar shell the bar might break through; but such a danger is prevented with a plant according to the invention.

Each sealing means suitably comprises a ring made of soft,

elastic material and a labial ring made of resistant, harder material, the inner diameter of the rings being smaller than the inner diameter of the bushings and smaller than the outer diameter of the pins.

The bushings or part of the bushings may also directly be connected with the tubes of the cooling water system.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, these and further features of the invention shall now be explained with reference to the drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a lateral view of a water-cooled casting mould and a frame, partly in section, and

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view through a rapid connection shown on a greater scale.

Numeral 1 denotes the mould which at its outer jacket is stationarily surrounded by a hollow ring 1 and is mounted on a carrying frame 2 having connections 3, 4 to the cooling water system. The mould l, the hollow ring I of the mould, and the carrying frame 2 are water-cooled and form a common cooling water system. The hollow ring I is provided with several hollow pins which may, if desired, have different diameters and are vertically arranged; of these pins two are shown in a sectional view and are denoted with 5. 5. These pins 5, 5' are provided at their lower ends with a taper 6 (FIG. 2) and may be inserted into bushings 7, 7'. The bushings 7, 7' have an inner diameter which is somewhat greater than the outer diameter of the corresponding pins 5, 5'. In the bushings 7, 7 packings 8, 8' are arranged in annular recesses 9. These packings each comprise a ring 10 made of soft, elastic material, e.g. of foam rubber, and a labial ring 11 arranged above the ring 10, which ring 11 is made of harder elastic material, e.g. of rubber or of plastics. The inner diameter of the packings 8, 8' is smaller than the inner diameter of the bushings 7, 7' and smaller than the outer diameter of the corresponding pins 5, 5 so that when the pins (FIG. 2) are inserted, the sealings are laterally pressed against the inner walls of the bushings. Owing to the water pressure the elastic rings 10 are pressed radially towards the outside and the pressure is transferred to the labial rings 11 having the form of inverted channels shown at 12; this provides for an automatic sealing in dependence on the liquid pressure.

The mould l is fixed to the frame 2 by quickly releasable bolt-wedge connections 13; there are no screw connections so that the time for exchanging the mould represents an absolute minimum.

What I claim is:

1. In a watencooled continuous casting mould supported on a water-cooled carrying frame, the improvement comprising a hollow ring stationarily surrounding said mould and having a box-type profile, a plurality of hollow pins extending from said hollow ring, a plurality of bushings in said carrying frame, annular recesses in said bushings and sealing means in said annular recesses, said hollow pins sealingly engaging said sealing means within said bushings providing rapid connections between said mould and said frame for the formation of a common carrying frame-mould cooling system.

2. The mould set forth in claim I, in which each sealing means comprises a ring made of soft, elastic material and a labial ring made of resistant, harder material, the inner diameter of the rings being smaller than the inner diameter of the bushings and smaller than the outer diameter of the pins. 

1. In a water-cooled continuous casting mould supported on a water-cooled carrying frame, the improvement comprising a hollow ring stationarily surrounding said mould and having a box-type profile, a plurality of hollow pins extending from said hollow ring, a plurality of bushings in said carrying frame, annular recesses in said bushings and sealing means in said annular recesses, said hollow pins sealingly engaging said sealing means within said bushings providing rapid connections between said mould and said frame for the formation of a common carrying frame-mould cooling system.
 2. The mould set forth in claim 1, in which each sealing means comprises a ring made of soft, elastic material and a labial ring made of resistant, harder material, the inner diameter of the rings being smaller than the inner diameter of the bushings and smaller than the outer diameter of the pins. 